French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Algeria’s President Abdelmadjid Tebboune in Algiers
ALGIERS, Feb 9 (NNN-Xinhua) — Algerian President Abdelmadjid Tebboune on Wednesday ordered the immediate recall of Algerian Ambassador to France Said Moussi for consultation, according to a statement from the president’s office.
The recall comes to protest “the secret and illegal evacuation of an Algerian citizen, who was wanted by the Algerian justice, from the country’s soil,” the statement noted.
Earlier in the day, the Algerian Foreign Ministry “strongly condemned” in a statement “the violation of national sovereignty by French diplomatic, consular, and security officials,” who are accused of “illegally and secretly” evacuating an Algerian citizen.
The ministry stated that it has “conveyed its strong condemnation to the French Embassy in Algeria in an official note.”
The statement also emphasized Algeria’s rejection of “this unacceptable and indefinable development, which causes great harm to Algerian-French relations.”
This is the second time that Algeria has recalled its ambassador to France for consultation in less than two years.
In October 2021, Algeria recalled its ambassador to France in protest over French President Emmanuel Macron’s critical remarks against Algeria. Macron criticized the “political-military system” in Algeria, a former French colony, for rewriting Algerian history and fomenting “hatred” toward France. — NNN-XINHUA
